Date: Thu, 3 Apr 1997 14:55:12 EST
From: Michael Montgomery
Subject:
The "for to" infinitive is recessive in Appalachian English but not obso-
lete. In my _Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English_ there are 8-10 cita-
tions, as I recall, including some from the 1970s. In the British Isles
the construction is well known in Ulster, and I suspect a glance at the
_English Dialect Dictionary_ would indicate a fairly widespread distribu-
tion in England. There is no strong reason, in other words, for calling
it an AAVE construction.
Michael Montogmery
Department of English
University of South Carolina
Columbia SC 29208